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Sports Illustrated

Sport

Tim Capurso

Projecting AP Top 25 After College Football Week 5: After Riding High, Gators Ambushed By Tigers

Gators SEC Florida Football Missouri Vanderbilt Alabama Mississippi State Curt Cignetti Georgia

A lot can happen in one week. Just look at Week 5 of the college football season. One week ago, Florida was on top of the world, having just crushed Ole Miss to score a top-five victory at home. On Saturday, the Gators were like fish out of water away from the Swamp, as they were poached by the Missouri Tigers 45–17.

While there wasn’t nearly as much carnage in the Top 25, with multiple teams on bye and far fewer ranked matchups to speak of, losses by Florida and a few other ranked teams will result in some tinkering of the AP poll come Sunday.

Here’s our take on what the poll could look like once 2 p.m. ET rolls around on Sunday.

Projected the AP Top 25 rankings after Week 5

1. Texas Longhorns (4–0, 1–0 SEC)

Week 5: BYE
Week 6: vs. Oklahoma, 3:30 p.m. ET Saturday

The Longhorns certainly aren’t playing their best, but they enjoyed a well-deserved Week 5 bye after scoring a pair of top-25 victories in their first four games. The Red River Rivalry against Oklahoma awaits in Week 6.

2. Georgia Bulldogs (5–0, 3-0 SEC)

Week 5: Beat Vanderbilt 38–14
Week 6: at No. 7 Alabama, 7:30 p.m. ET Saturday

After winning their first four games of the season against Tennessee State, Western Kentucky and overmatched SEC foes Arkansas and Oklahoma by a margin of 219-53, it’s likely that Georgia fans weren’t exactly hoping the team would face adversity. They just wouldn’t be upset if it happened against Vanderbilt in Week 5. Well, adversity came knocking in the form of Vanderbilt’s No. 2 quarterback Blaze Berlowitz and a Commodores passing attack that was surprisingly able to generate chunk plays downfield against the Bulldogs’ defense.

And out of adversity came a beautiful thing for Georgia. Vanderbilt had no answer for Bulldogs quarterback Gunner Stockton, who played his best game of the season, completing passes to 10 different receivers while throwing for 295 yards and three scores. After its appetizer of adversity in Week 5, Georgia will get the main course in Week 6 at Alabama.

3. Miami Hurricanes (5–0, 3–0 ACC)

Week 5: Beat Clemson 41–13
Week 6: Bye

This was a perfect example of why Miami is such a dangerous team. They didn’t have their fastball, as jitterbug Malachi Toney gutted through an injury. But 1B receiver Cooper Barkate stepped up with 98 yards through the air, including a 61-yard catch-and-run off a screen on the second offensive play of the game for the Hurricanes. Darian Mensah didn’t dazzle in the box score, but made some big-time throws, including this absolute dot to Toney on a third-and-11 in which he took a shot in the pocket.

The Canes rumbled for 192 yards on the ground and the defense, led by the dominant Damon Wilson II, racked up six sacks. This was a very impressive win for Miami against arguably its toughest competition yet in one of the toughest places to play in the country.

4. Notre Dame Fighting Irish (5–0)

Week 5: Beat North Carolina 37–26
Week 6: vs. Stanford, 3:30 p.m. ET Saturday

Notre Dame Fighting Irish, AP Top 25 — Marcus Freeman's Fighting Irish have multiple different ways to beat opponents. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

This was a weird one for Notre Dame. Rain poured down at Kenan Stadium for much of the day, and the sloppiness was not reserved just for the field. The Fighting Irish were stuffed on fourth-and-goal from the North Carolina 2-yard line in the second quarter and needed four downs to punch in a score in the third quarter. The Notre Dame defense uncharacteristically found itself on its heels at times, surrendering chunk plays and three passing touchdowns to Billy Edwards and the Tar Heels. The special teams unit gave up a 98-yard kickoff return to open the second half.

And yet, in many ways, this was Fighting Irish football to the core. The Notre Dame three-headed monster at running back, headlined by freshman Jonaz Walton, rumbled for 241 yards, CJ Carr played a near-perfect game in the adverse conditions, firing four touchdown passes, and the Irish dominated time of possession, suffocating the Tar Heels in the second half.

5. Alabama Crimson Tide (5–0, 3–0 SEC)

Week 5: Beat No. 16 Mississippi State 56–23
Week 6: vs. No. 2 Georgia, 7:30 p.m. ET Saturday

The Crimson Tide have sometimes played Jekyll-and-Hyde this season. On Saturday, they were definitely Dr. Jekyll. The opportunistic defense came up with a forced fumble on Mississippi State’s first possession, cashed in on a Keelon Russell touchdown pass to take a 7–0 lead, then extended the lead to 14 when the defense came up with its fourth pick-six of the season. The final tally sheet for the defense? Nine tackles for loss, five sacks and four takeaways. Pretty, pretty good (Larry David voice).

The Bulldogs would claw back, but an on-the-money Russell, who threw three touchdown passes and averaged 13 yards per pass, wouldn’t let them all the way back in. This version of the Crimson Tide looks like a top-five team.

6. Ohio State Buckeyes (4–1, 2–0 Big Ten)

Week 5: Beat No. 14 Iowa 31–14
Week 6: vs. Maryland, 4:15 p.m. ET Saturday

The final score read 31–14 in favor of Ohio State, but the game was even more lopsided than that score suggests. The Buckeyes pulled the plug on the sound at Kinnick Stadium early on, coming up with a sack fumble two plays in, then making the Hawkeyes pay for the turnover with a Julian Sayin touchdown pass two plays later. That was far from the end of the dominance for the Buckeyes defense, which held the Iowa rushing offense to 1.9 yards per carry and starting quarterback Hank Brown to just 4.9 yards per pass.

And as for the Ohio State offense? Jeremiah Smith (11 catches for 206 yards and two touchdowns) continues to be the best player on any field he steps on. And Sayin, who threw just four incomplete passes and accounted for four total scores, played arguably his best game of the season.

7. Indiana Hoosiers (5–0, 2–0 Big Ten)

Week 5: Beat Rutgers 47–15
Week 6: at Nebraska, noon ET Saturday

After preaching to his team not to overlook Northwestern, which aged very well, Hoosiers coach Curt Cignetti preached to his team not to overlook Rutgers. And the Hoosiers came out and played like a team that received the message. Quarterback Josh Hoover repeatedly found wideouts Charlie Becker and Nick Marsh downfield for huge gains, accounting for four passing touchdowns and 251 yards through the air.

But the real engine of the Indiana offense was the Turbo Richard-Lee Beebe Jr. backfield, which gashed the Scarlet Knights defense to the tune of over 300 yards on the ground and nearly a first down per carry. The way this offensive line can move men against their will coupled with the explosiveness of Richard and Beebe is truly a potent combination.

Cignetti won’t be pleased with the defense’s performance in the second half, but he’ll sleep easier knowing the Hoosiers didn’t commit a single penalty after being flagged eight times a week ago.

Indiana Hoosiers head coach Curt Cignetti looks on during the first half against the Rutgers Scarlet Knights. — Curt Cignetti’s Indiana rolled in a road game at Rutgers. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

8. Ole Miss Rebels (3–1, 1–1 SEC)

Week 5: Bye
Week 6: at Vanderbilt, 3:30 p.m. ET Saturday

One can imagine the Rebels channeling their inner Rick Dalton watching No. 8 Florida suffer a massive hangover loss against Missouri on the road, having experienced that type of loss at the hands of the Gators just last week. But Ole Miss has little time for schadenfreude, for they get a spunky Vanderbilt team in Week 6, followed by dates against Missouri and Texas.

9. LSU Tigers (4–1, 1–1 SEC)

Week 5: Beat McNeese 63–14
Week 6: at No. 24 Kentucky, 7 p.m. ET Saturday

Just how lopsided was LSU’s Week 5 victory over McNeese? Quarterback Sam Leavitt, after dicing up the Cowboys secondary for three touchdown passes, was done for the day in the third quarter. His backup Landen Clark was done for the day at the end of the third quarter, beckoning third-string freshman Husan Longstreet. Heck, Longstreet was even back there as a punt returner at one point.

His name may as well have been a metaphor for the poor Cowboys, as it was a long road for a team that failed to convert a single third down all game long. Yet, if there’s any cause for concern here, it’s that the gunslinger in Leavitt is still there (seven interceptions in five games) and the defensive depth may not be as adequate as coordinator Blake Baker would like. But how about freshman Deuce Geralds, who has five sacks in five games and had a defensive score on Saturday?

10. BYU Cougars (4-0, 2-0 Big 12)

Week 5: Beat TCU 17-10
Week 6: Vs. Iowa State, 10:15 p.m. ET Friday

If this ends up being a magical season for BYU, Cougars fans will hearken back to a rain-soaked Oct. 3 victory over TCU and call it the Bear Bachmeier game. The Cougars running game took a hit when both LJ Martin and Isaiah Glasker were ruled out with injuries. Pulling a Thanos, Bachmeier did it himself.

The talented quarterback only threw for 62 yards as the BYU passing offense cratered, but he carried the ball a team-high 15 times for 66 yards and two crucial touchdowns on the ground, including the eventual score late in the fourth quarter that made it a 17–10 ballgame, and saw Bachmeier break multiple tackles in an angry run. On the other side of the ball, Kalani Sitake’s defense consistently got off the field on third downs, forcing six punts and coming up with one takeaway.